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In October, Paul Manafort, President Donald Trump's former campaign manager, was indicted on charges including money laundering and failing to register as a foreign lobbyist in connection with work related to Ukraine. | Susan Walsh/AP

Manafort may add new defense lawyer

By JOSH GERSTEIN

02/10/2018 11:14 PM EST

Former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort may be picking up a new defense lawyer.

Manafort's current defense team — Kevin Downing and Tom Zehnle — told a federal district court judge Friday that they're moving offices from a Connecticut Avenue location to New Jersey Avenue. The duo appear to be moving into the Washington, D.C., offices of New York-based law firm Kostelanetz & Fink.

There's no sign Downing and Zehnle are joining that firm. However, one member of that firm could be joining Manafort's defense.

A Kostelanetz partner who specializes in tax cases and works out of that same office, Jay Nanavati, had been talkative about the Manafort case in recent months, but he fell silent on Friday when asked by POLITICO whether he was joining the defense team of the chairman of President Donald Trump's 2016 campaign. Nanavati, a former federal tax prosecutor, also declined to comment on why Downing and Zehnle were moving into his firm's offices.

Downing and Zehnle did not respond to messages Saturday seeking comment on the move. A spokeswoman for the firm also refused to comment on the move.

U.S. District Court Judge Amy Berman Jackson has issued a gag order limiting public comments about the case by Manafort, his co-defendant and former business partner Rick Gates, and their attorneys.

However, the order doesn't limit discussion by others, like the comments Nanavati offered to POLITICO and The Washington Post about Manafort's case as it was ramping up last year.

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Soon after Manafort's Alexandria condominium was raided in July by FBI agents executing a search warrant, Nanavati told POLITICO he thought the government was trying to find copies of messages between Manafort and those handling his finances.

"They’ve got a few different angles to squeeze him on along tax lines," Nanavati said. "My guess is what [special counsel Robert Mueller] is looking for are electronic communications between Manafort and his banker. ... People generally cannot help themselves from playing an active role in the management of their money. So, there are emails galore."

Nanavati also said he wouldn't be surprised if Manafort had offshore accounts in Cyprus, given his dealings with Russians and Ukrainians.

"Cyprus is absolutely where you would have your bank account if you're a Russian or Ukrainian oligarch or corrupt government official," the former prosecutor said. "If he is getting money from those sources, it wouldn't shock me if they said, 'This is where you should set up your account.'"

In October, Manafort and deputy Rick Gates were indicted on charges including money laundering and failing to register as foreign lobbyists in connection with their work related to Ukraine.

A Washington Post story analyzing the indictment quoted Nanavati saying that lobbying firms involved in Manafort and Gates' Ukraine work "are in significant trouble." The attorney also said Manafort's indictment was an effort to try to win his cooperation in order to go after higher-ups, although the story didn't say whether he was alluding to Trump or others.

"This is still how you start moving up the ladder in any organization," Nanavati said.